SDG 5 - Gender equality and women's empowerment

Show improvement in stage 1

· Equal remuneration for women and men

· Diversity and equal opportunity

· Access to sexual and reproductive health-care services

· Workplace violence and harassment

· Women in leadership

· Childcare services and benefits

· OHS Training

· Safety Basics Assessment

Actions for SDG 5

Implement gender equality plans and policies ⬇

Pay equal remuneration, including benefits, for work of equal value and strive to pay a living wage to all women and men
All employees are entitled to a personal development plan.
Have non-discriminatory recruitment policies.
Establish a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of violence at work, including verbal/ and/ or physical abuse and prevent sexual harassment.
Work with organizations that comply with equality policies
Expand business relationships with women-owned enterprises, including small businesses and women entrepreneurs.

Feature working conditions that promote empowerment ⬇

Assure sufficient participation of women – 30% or greater – in decision-making and governance at all levels and across all business areas.
Support access to child and dependent care by providing services, resources and information to both women and men
Offer training courses tailored to the needs of our employees
Share the issue of "female empowerment" with other groups
Work in accordance with UN Women's Women's Empowerment Principles
Promote decent and empowering jobs for women across the value chain
Create a space where our employees can freely express their opinions, experiences and doubts

Measure women's empowerment and inclusion at all levels ⬇

Define goals for your strategy to monitor women's empowerment, with qualitative and quantitative information
Have pay monitoring systems to avoid the pay gap
Conduct surveys of employees to know their level of awareness of women's social inequality
Have a register of men vs women who ask for paternity or maternity leave, and monitor the effectiveness of this policy in the company, etc.
Collect and analyze gender-disaggregated data on incidents of discrimination (related to sex or gender) and note the corrective measures taken
Ensure that training is equally accessible to men and women, adapting it to special schedules for work-life balance

SDG 5 in Canada

Gender gap still exists (Decision making, Economic prosperity and security) ⬇

Despite the gender-balanced Cabinet,women remain under-represented in Canada’s national parliament and make up only 27% of its members. Comparatively, women members accounted for 21% of Parliament a decade ago.
Canada’s economic future depends on all people having equal opportunity to reach their full potential, but disparities persist in women’s labour force participation rate—82% in 2014 compared with 91% for men—and the gender wage gap—Canadian women earned $0.87 for every dollar earned by men in 2017, based on average hourly earnings.
Immigrant and refugee women and girls face distinct and multiple challenges in Canada, including language acquisition, work transitions, childcare responsibilities, developing new networks and shifting traditional family dynamics

The role of business to help achieve gender equality ⬇

Empowering women and girls and achieving gender equality requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders, including business.
All companies have baseline responsibilities to respect human rights, including the rights of women and girls. Beyond these baseline responsibilities, companies also have the opportunity to support the empowerment of women and girls through core business, social investment, public policy engagement and partnerships.

Latest Updates/Resources related to SDG 5

Featured

Safer Spaces | go2HR

Through this new initiative created in partnership between go2HR and the Justice Institute, employers will have access to communication tools and online training programs designed to increase understanding and awareness of rights and responsibilities with regard to workplace sexual harassment among tourism and hospitality industry employers and employees.

1:1 Employer Health & Safety Consultations | go2HR

A member of the go2HR Health and Safety team will meet with Biosphere employers at least once annually, for 30 minutes, to discuss their Safety Basics Assessment results (if desired), answer any other OHS-related questions and provide additional insights, support and resources as appropriate.

Schedule Now →

Safety Basics Assessment | go2HR

A free, confidential, online OHS self-assessment. Receive practical information, resources and advice to help improve an existing health and safety program or get started on developing a new one, based on your responses.

Start Assessment →